Newsletter - Fall 2026
Updated: Oct 5
New News
The Material Culture Collective looks forward to an exciting autumn ahead! The fall newsletter includes information on upcoming events, new publications, new travel and course opportunities for students, and a link to the latest installment of In the Loop, featuring Dr. Manon Gaudet, Post-doctoral fellow at St. Francis Xavier University. As well, this fall, we embark on our first set of Speakers Series events, Historical Dress and Quilts of War, featuring emerging scholars and leaders in their fields. Register for these Fall Speakers Series by RSVPing in the Events section.
We look forward to continuing to build our network and offerings, so please reach out if you are interested in proposing a topic for the Speakers Series, sharing a Mystery Object, or if you know a colleague, student, or mentor that would like to be featured for In the Loop.
Happy reading!
Lisa
Fall Speakers Series
Historical Dress
Wednesday October 21st, 2026, at 1- 3 pm Atlantic Daylight Time (ADT), featuring
Belgian Dress History, 1830-1914
Elena Vanden Abeel, Ghent University in Belgium
Historical Dress Wardrobes as Ego Documents: Using Clothing as Primary Sources for Biographical Information
Birthe Wijkamp, Independent Curator
A Late 18th Century High-Waisted Style Flowered Silk Brocade Gown
Hilary Doda, PhD, Dalhousie University
Followed by Q & A
Quilts of War
Wednesday November 4th, 2026, at 2 - 3:30 pm ADT, featuring
The Other Front: The Emotional Meaning of First World War Fundraising Quilts
Heather Smith, Western University
Textile Production by Canadian Women on the Home Front in the Second World War
Joanna Dermenjian, Independent Researcher
Canadian Quilts of War
Lucie Heins, Royal Alberta Museum, (retired)
Followed by Q & A
In the Loop
Dr. Manon Gaudet, SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow at St. Francis Xavier University, is currently working under the supervision of Dr. Erin Morton.
Dr. Gaudet's work examines the visual and material cultures of settler colonialism in North America, focusing on how Indigenous and settler artists used art to express competing claims to sovereignty.
Read more about her work on our website under programs at In the Loop
Upcoming Opportunities for Students
Canadian Institute in Greece
CLAS 3025.03: Archaeology of Greece Study Tour
Every May/June, the Canadian Institute in Greece (CIG) offers a summer school program in Greece for Canadian post-secondary students. Thanks to an agreement between Dalhousie and the CIG, Dalhousie students can receive credit (CLAS 3025.03) for the summer school program. The course is open to students in any discipline. Non-Dalhousie students can take the course as a visiting student to transfer to their home institution.
The CIG Summer School
The CIG summer school is a study tour that gives students direct contact with the historical and archaeological heritage of Greece. It consists of lectures on Greek history and archaeology, supported by direct observation of ancient Greek material culture through visits to archaeological sites and museums. Although a background in classics may be helpful, the course is open to undergraduate students in any field of study.
The precise itinerary of the course and study tour changes year-to-year. Previous study tours have included Attica, the Peloponnese, and Crete and the Greek islands. The study tour combines formal lectures given at the Mirkopoulos Centre of the Canadian Institute in Greece in Athens with visits to archaeological sites and museums. Instructors are typically PhD holders or PhD candidates in Greek archaeology with experience conducting research and doing archaeological fieldwork in Greece.
About the Canadian Institute in Greece (CIG)
The Canadian Institute in Greece (CIG) https://www.cig-icg.gr/ is a privately funded, not-for-profit organization, incorporated in Canada, which seeks to promote Canadian research and education in fields relating to Greece’s heritage. The Institute advances knowledge of Greece in all periods by sponsoring and promoting archaeological fieldwork, providing resources for scholarly research, and disseminating results. The Institute is also charged by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture with primary responsibility for all Canadian archaeological fieldwork projects and seeks to support the investigation, preservation, and presentation of Greece’s cultural heritage.
The Institute promotes research in all aspects of ancient, Byzantine and modern Greek studies, including classics, history, art history, anthropology and the fine arts. This is achieved through: an academic programme of seminars, lectures, and conferences; the provision of services for its members, including applications for study and fieldwork permits; advice on the development of research programmes; access to accommodation and library facilities in Athens; the provision of fellowships for graduate and post-doctoral research in Greece, and internships for undergraduate and graduate students to experience academic life in Athens through the services of CIG. The Institute also sponsors Canadian cultural activities in Greece.
Dalhousie is an institutional member of the CIG with a representative on the Board of Directors.
CLAS 3025 Course Delivery
The course is delivered by the Canadian Institute in Greece (CIG) in partnership with the Department of Classics at Dalhousie. The credit is granted by Dalhousie. A Dalhousie instructor (a faculty member in the Department of Classics) will assign grades in the course based on coursework and in consultation with the on-site summer school instructor(s). The syllabus for CLAS 3025 is available upon request from the Department of Classics. CLAS 3025 is a 3-credit-hour course.
How and When to Apply
Students can take the CIG Summer School program for Dalhousie credit or not for credit.
Step 1) Students apply for the summer school directly through the website of the Canadian Institute in Greece: https://www.cig-icg.gr/ The deadline to apply is typically the end of January for the coming summer. Late applicants may be accepted as space allows at the discretion of the CIG summer school organizers.
Step 2) To receive Dalhousie credit: once students have applied through the CIG website and been accepted into the summer school program, they can email the Department of Classics to request permission to enroll in CLAS 3025.
Costs
Summer school fee: Students pay the fee for the summer school program directly to the CIG. (Instructions will be given upon acceptance into the program.) This fee includes accommodation, site and museum fees, some meals, and transportation between sites. It does not include airfare. It does not include the Dalhousie tuition fee. The CIG is a not-for-profit organization run by and for researchers; it endeavours to keep costs for the summer school program as low as possible for students.
Dalhousie tuition fee: If students wish to receive Dalhousie credit for the program, they must enroll in CLAS 3025 and pay a tuition fee directly to Dalhousie. This tuition fee is paid to Dalhousie in addition to the summer school fees paid to the CIG.
New Publications
Upcoming Events and Networks of Interest
Host institution: Canadian Society for Decorative Arts
Host institution: American Folklore Society
Host institution: International Society for Ethnology and Folklore - SIEF
See the website about membership and the list of working groups, including material culture
Interested in sharing information about upcoming events? Email: materialculturecollective@gmail.com
Steering Committee 2026-2027
Dr. Lauren Beck, Mt. Allison University, Sackville, NB
Dr. Antonia Behan, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON
Dr. Lisa Binkley, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS
Lisa Bower, Curator/Registrar, Cultural History Collection, Nova Scotia Museum
Dr. Rachel Bryant, University of New Brunswick -St. John, NB
Dr. Ian Brodie, Cape Breton University, Sydney, NS
Holly Dickinson, PhD Candidate, Dalhousie University
Dr. Hilary Doda, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS
Dr. Catherine Girard, Saint Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, NS
SJ Jones, PhD Candidate, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS
Amber Laurie, PhD Candidate and Senior Curator, Maritime Museum of the Atlantic
Dr. Kelley Totten, Memorial University, St. John’s, NFLD
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